Diotima is a resource for the interdisciplinary study of “patterns of gender” in the ancient Mediterranean world. It serves as a gathering point and forum for those teaching about women and gender in the ancient world. This very dense site includes course materials, a variety of searchable bibliographies, an anthology of translations, calls for papers, and even Latin course readings relating to the topics of women and gender in ancient Rome. Most of the resources given are for Greece and Rome; but there is also material about Egypt, the Near East, and the Etruscan culture. There are also numerous links to other sites around the world which focus on similar or related subjects. The related listserv, Anahita, is used to transmit information about updates to the site and serves as a place for the discussion of women and gender in the ancient world.
This site contains a vast amount of information. A large database provides material for bibliographies of print resources. This database is searchable by keyword, Boolean, and regular expression searching. Regular expression searching is explained in detail on a separate page of the site. The main bibliography page provides a search engine as well as nearly 100 subject links which automatically perform searches on the database. Results are returned in alphabetical order by author. Each bibliography created also includes a form which may be used to search Diotima’s bibliographies or any of ten other online sources for text references. A small number of the items listed in these bibliographies are available, in whole or in part, online. Links are provided to the online versions and to online reviews of the materials listed, if available.
The anthology is much smaller and contains online translations of Greek, Latin, Egyptian, and Coptic texts. The anthology section of Diotima is edited by Diane Arnson Svarlien of Georgetown College. Translations vary in format and complexity, but most contain notes and some also contain links to the text in the original language. Translations are provided by scholars from around the world and are housed at the Diotima site. The anthology also contains a large collection of links to other sites which provide primary source material in the original languages or in translation.
De Feminis Romanis is a resource for Latin reading courses. This small collection of material provides short readings from various Roman authors including Livy, Ovid, Virgil, and both Pliny the Elder and Pliny the Younger. The readings vary in length, but all contain notes to assist in translation. This collection, edited by C.A.E. Luschnig and others of the University of Idaho, is available for classroom use and would be helpful to any Latin instructors wishing to include discussions of women in Roman civilization in their classes.
The visual images, essays, and Biblical studies pages provide links to many other sites on the Web containing information relating to women and gender. One of the truly amazing things to note about these extensive collections of links to other scholarly sites is the fact that, while the reviewer did not attempt every link, only one of the many links checked failed. This bespeaks a great attention to site maintenance by Scaife as well as the stability of the linked sites.
In general, Diotima is a great resource for scholars interested in women in the ancient Mediterranean. The site itself contains a large amount of information, and the huge number of external sites referred to are well organized, well maintained, and useful. Multiple search engines are provided for Diotima itself and for other Web sites. Many of the pages have been updated recently; and most have the last date updated clearly available. Most pages have some method of contacting the site author with suggestions for inclusion.
The major criticism one can give this page is that there are large numbers of embedded links; and it is not always clear whether those links lead to internal pages or external sites. There also appears to be a lack of consistency in linking by redirection or by opening a new browser window. This may lead to some confusion in navigation, especially for users unaccustomed to Web surfing. These links are useful and appropriate, however, and serve as a sort of explanatory footnote system for the text.
This site is an excellent resource for anyone interested in finding information, online or off, about women and gender issues in the ancient world. Diotima has been awarded a superior rating by eBlast, the Internet guide of Encyclopaedia Britannica.
